Technical Abstract:
For more than twenty years, the egg-borne transmission of human Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) infections has been a prominent international public health and economic issue. Vaccination to induce immunity against Salmonella has been both extensively researched and widely implemented in commercial poultry flocks. Among the available control options, vaccination has been of particular interest because of its inherently serotype-specific focus. However, no single control response is likely to be an effective unilateral solution to the complex public health and economic problems associated with Salmonella in poultry. Preventive treatments such as vaccination can serve an important role by reducing the susceptibility of poultry to Salmonella infection in case risk reduction practices fail to prevent pathogen introduction into flocks. This can be an especially valuable contribution when epidemiological evidence has led to heightened concerns about particular Salmonella serotypes and for protecting highly susceptible flocks or flocks exposed to severe challenges from environmental sources.